


In a Moment of Joy and Fury

by i_am_made_of_memoriies



Series: Mechtober 2020 [3]
Category: The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Comfort, F/F, I've been writing a lot about Cyberia lately huh, Lesbians in Space, Mechtober, Resolution, UDAD/trees
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:09:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26926387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_am_made_of_memoriies/pseuds/i_am_made_of_memoriies
Summary: Written for days 7-9 of Mechtober 2020 (UDAD/trees)When Nastya sees The City, she knows that she must put her ghosts to rest.(title from End of Love by Florence and the Machine)
Relationships: The Aurora/Nastya Rasputina
Series: Mechtober 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949050
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	In a Moment of Joy and Fury

**Author's Note:**

> me: aw man UDAD doesn't really have Nastya in it  
> literally anyone else: you know you don't _have_ to write about nastya  
> me: no I think I will. ANYWAY the cyberian sequence-
> 
> I've been writing a lot about Cyberia's shitty government lately.... I think I (an American) may be projecting.......  
> also I've still got an hour left on the 9th, this is still on time

The moment Nastya caught a glimpse of The City on Raphaella’s tablet, she knew she disliked it. No matter where she looked, she could not find a single glimpse of green. The oppressive smog and suffocating grey sky were all too familiar; she could feel tension and misery from the residents without stepping a foot on the planet. Despite her discomfort, her crewmates seemed to revel in the monotonous misery of City. She immediately glimpsed a gleam of excitement in Ashes’s eyes as soon as they heard about the precarious social structure in place, and she heard something she could categorize only as an evil cackle from Raphaella’s lab as soon as Jonny mentioned The Acheron. Everyone save Nastya exuded excitement for visiting the city, though, as Nastya took a moment to scan the kitchen, Ivy was not present. She shrugged Ivy’s absence off; the librarian disappeared every now and then to wander on her own. 

The closer she got to The City, the more a knot of tension built up and writhed in Nastya’s chest. She could not go there–not when Cyberia still existed with its grim streets and totalitarian government (if she could even call the dictatorship in place a government). If she were to step foot in The City, she would have to destroy it, or at least murder those in charge; she could not leave another planet in such a state. 

“How long until we land, darling?” She sank into a pile of cushions in the engine room, resting her head on the warm metal wall. 

_ 4 days, 7 hours, and 23 minutes.  _ The lights of the engine room dimmed slightly.  _ Is everything alright? You seem unhappy. _

Nastya took a moment to consider her words. As much as she wanted to tell Aurora everything, she could not bring herself to explain how The City brought up unpleasant memories of Cyberia. Still, she knew that she would have to tell Aurora something if she truly wanted to avoid going to The City. She cursed Cyberia silently, hating it for all of the anguish it still brought her and her love. She knew that Aurora would remember Cyberia on occasion, and she knew that Aurora’s memories were not pleasant. Cyberia was not a pleasant place. She was destined to be haunted by the ghosts of her past until it was no more. 

Oh. Nastya sank down deeper into her cushions. She knew what had to be done. 

“Aurora, I need you to turn around,” she said softly, trying to steady her breathing. “I need you to drop me off at h-at Cyberia.” The word “home” teased at her tongue, but she knew that Cyberia was not her home, and never had been.

Aurora whirred for a moment, as if she was beginning to speak, but went silent again. She stayed that way for several seconds.  _ Okay. _

“Thank you, love.” 

* * *

Aurora let Nastya do her work. Nastya did not explicitly tell her what she wanted to do on Cyberia, but Aurora knew. She knew how the memory of Cyberia haunted them both, and it was only a matter of time before one of them did something. 

Aurora watched as the crew dropped Nastya off, fleeing Cyberia as quickly as they could after Nastya disappeared from their view. Aurora scanned the planet quickly, watching as Nastya deliberately made her way to the center of the planet. Turning away, she wished Nastya the best, and delivered the rest of the mechanisms to another grey, bleak planet. 

Jonny asked her about Nastya’s intentions several times on the way to The City, but Aurora always offered the same answer. Nastya was going to put some ghosts to rest. She would be happier after. Jonny tried to pry–he did not want to be in the dark about matters that regarded his little sister, but Aurora knew that Nastya would explain when she felt ready. 

“Are you sure Nastya doesn’t want to come?” Jonny asked, right before stepping off Aurora. “I’d hate for her to miss out on some quality violence.”

Aurora dropped a screen from the ceiling.  _ She does not want to come. Do not worry about her. _

“Yeah, she can fuck around and do whatever she wants, I just don’t want her to feel like we’re excluding her or anything.” 

_ She will be fine, Jonny. And she will come back when she can. _

“I never said I was worried.”

_ You didn’t have to. _

* * *

Nastya did not have to languish in the void for long. By the time she regenerated from the explosion, Aurora had found her and pulled her deep into the bowels of the ship where she could get warm. Nastya’s coat was covered in ash and rubble, and her face was caked in grime, but she looked peaceful. Her eyes were closed gently behind cracked glasses, her face devoid of residual tension. Her work was done. She would never be haunted again, and neither would Aurora. 

Nastya woke up cradled in Aurora’s wires, one wire stroking a gentle pattern down her jawline. Opening her eyes a crack, she offered Aurora a tired smile. 

_ How do you feel now, darling? _ Aurora’s voice was quiet but enveloping. 

Nastya was too exhausted to answer, but she relaxed further in Aurora’s embrace and nodded her head, drifting back into peaceful sleep. Anastasia Romanova was finally dead, her ghost put to rest.

When Nastya awoke again, Aurora had docked in The City. 

_ We need to pick up the rest of the crew.  _ She offered Nastya a few images of her crewmates' escapades on a screen.  _ You do not have to go onto the planet if you do not want to. _

“I don’t see why I wouldn’t,” Nastya said. The City no longer evoked a terrible familiarity. It seemed bleak and depressing, but so did most planets, and the unstable social situation was more amusing than it was painful. 

She stepped off the Aurora, taking in a deep breath of polluted air. To find her crewmates, she simply followed the trail of destruction until she came to a bloodied vault. Stepping over a few bodies, all clad in pinstripe suits, she entered the vault, and there, in the center of this desolate, depressing city, was a tall, green tree. It was almost too perfect.

  
  



End file.
